) 

885 


Shadov/s   in  the   Ethics    of  tha 
International  Medical    Conpress 


Levi    Cooper   Lane 


'/ 


Shadows  in  the  Ethics 


INTERNATIONAL' 


EDICAL  CONGRESS, 


LEVI  COOPER  LANE, 

A.  M.,  M.  D.    (Jefkersox    and    Berlin),    Professor    of    Surgery    in    Cooper 
Medical  College,  and  MEMuiiR  of  the  Royal  College 
OF  Sdrgeoxs,  England. 


WITH  COMPLIMENTS  OF  THE  AUTHOR 


San  Francisco  : 

A.  L.  BANCROFT  &  COMPANY,  PRINTERS. 

1885. 


Shadows  in  the  Ethics 


INTERNATIONAL 


MEDICAL  CONGRESS, 


LEVI  COOPER  LANE, 

A.  M.,  M.    D.   (Jefferson    and   Berlin),    Professor   of    Sdrgery   m   Cooper 

Medical  College,  and  Member  of  the  Royal  College 

OF  Surgeons,  England. 


gSte 


San  Francisco  : 
A.  L.  BANCROFT  &  COMPANY,  PRINTERS. 

1885. 


PREFACE. 


The  author  of  these  pages  believes  it  the  duty  of  every 

man,    when  wrongfully   attacked,   to    defend  himself;   and 

knowing,  too,  that  the  world  has  enough  to  do,  to  be  not 

<£>     much  concerned  with  the  personal  contention  of  individuals, 

'^   it  has  been  his  aim  to  render  this  paper  as  nearly  impersonal 

^    as  possible,  in  avoiding  the  fallacy  e^  tu  quoque:    had  he 

no 

-^   chosen  the  personal  method,  he  could  have  used  a  number 

•**  .  ... 

*   of  choice  arrows  that  remains  untouched  in  his  quiver. 

LEVI  C.  LANE. 

San  Francisco,  Cal.,  July  lo,  1885. 


30477.5 


SHADOWS  IN  THE  ETHICS 


International  Medical  Congress, 


For  the  information  of  readers  who  have  not  followed 
the  International  Medical  Congress  through  its  phases  of 
change  since  it  was  decided  to  hold  the  next  meeting  in 
this  country,  it  may  be  stated  that  the  original  committee 
of  seven  men,  to  whom  the  American  Medical  Association 
in  1884  gave  the  matter  in  charge,  being  invested,  in 
accordance  with  the  Act  creating  the  committee,  with  full 
powers  to  perfect  such  arrangements  as  would  secure  a 
successful  meeting,  proceeded  to  outline  the  work  that  was 
to  be  done,  by  the  creation  of  nineteen  sections,  represent- 
ing in  detail  every  department  in  the  Science  of  Medicine. 

This  division  of  the  work,  copied  mainly  from  the 
method  pursued  at  the  preceding  sessions  of  the  Inter- 
national Medical  Congress,  was  assigned  to  a  like  number 
of  committees,  composed  of  medical  men  selected  from 
different  sections  of  the  United  States. 


The  American  Medical  Association,  at  its  recent  session 
in  New  Orleans,  declined  to  accept  the  work  done  by  the 
committee  appointed  the  previous  year,  and  created  a  new 
one,  with  instructions  to  revise  and  change  the  work  of  the 
former  committee  in  whatever  way  it  might  see  fit.  No 
impartial  mind  will  admit  that  there  was  need  of  revision 
and  change  of  the  work  done  by  the  first  committee;  and 
it  is  greatly  to  the  credit  of  nearly  one-third  of  the  delegates 
at  New  Orleans,  that  they  strenuously  opposed  it.  What 
a  chaplet  is  this  discord  to  place  on  the  grave  of  Dr. 
Thomas,  who,  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  a  co-laborer 
with  the  old  committee,  lost  his  Hfe!  What  a  recompense 
to  Drs.  Flint  and  Billings,  through  whose  personal  efforts 
at  the  last  meeting  the  Congress  was  induced  to  hold  its 
first  session  in  the  New  World!  Their  scourging  finds  an 
analogue  in  the  fate  of  Columbus,  who  was  borne  in  chains 
over  the  ocean  across  which  he  was  the  first  to  lead  the 
Old  World.  How  edifying  this  spectacle  to  the  eyes  of 
the  Pasteurs,  Charcots,  Virchows,  Volkmanns,  Esmarchs, 
Listers,  and  Pagets,  who  are  expected  to  honor  with  their 
presence  the  coming  Congress  ! 

The  new  committee  lately  met  in  Chicago,  and  under 
the  Chairmanship  of  Dr.  R.  Beverly  Cole,  Professor  of 
Obstetrics  in  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of 
California,  has  accomplished  its  work  of  revision,  of  which, 
at  the  time  of  writing  this,  I  have  no  knowledge  except  of 
the  action  taken  in  reference  to  myself,  and  hence  I  know 
not  whether  local  envy  in  that  convention  has  invested 
itself  with   similar   infamy,  by   cowardly  attacking  others, 


whose  absence  rendered  them  helpless  to  defend  them- 
selves. 

In  my  case  the  action  taken  was  in  direct  violation  of 
that  in  use  before  the  common  tribunals  of  Justice,  where 
no  one  can  be  condemned  without  a  hearing;  and  especially 
was  it  out  of  place  in  a  convention  sitting-  within  that  sacred 
circle  of  Ethics,  whose  laws  aim  at  a  higher  model  of  right 
and  equity  than  can  be  found  in  the  Justinian  Pandects,  or 
in  any  modern  code  of  law. 

Besides  the  denial  hereafter  given  of  the  charges  against 
me,  I  will  here  say  that  no  one  has  ever  been  more  loyal  to 
Regular  Medicine  than  myself,  whether  professionally  as  a 
consultant,  or  didactically  as  a  teacher.  And  this  loyalty 
has  sprung  from  a  study  of  Medicine  in  its  Greek  and  Latin 
sources,  and  in  its  later  growth  as  contained  in  four  promi- 
nent weeklies,  published  respectively  in  America,  England, 
France,  and  Germany,  a  Spanish  monthly,  and  a  twenty 
years'  reading  of  Canstatt's  Jahresbericht,  "  An  Annual 
Review  of  Medicine  in  all  Lands."  This  reading  will  teach 
any  one  that  there  is  but  one  Medicine,  and  that  the  Old 
School  is  its  Oracle. 


War  Department, 

Surgeon-General's  Office, 

Washington,  June  29,   1885. 
Dear  Doctor  : 

You  will  see  the    doings    of   the    Chicago    Committee 
in  the  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association.     It 


8 

made  Cole,  President  of  the  Committee  of  Organization, 
and  Shoemaker,  Secretary.  All  New  Code  men  were 
dropped.  You  were  dropped  at  Cole's  instance,  as  being 
New  Code. 

Drs.  Hays,  Browne,  and  myself  have  resigned  from 
the  committee. 

It's  a  bad  piece  of  business. 

Regretting  the  results  of  our  efforts,  I  remain, 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

John  S.  Billings. 
Dr.  Levi  C.  Lane^  San  Francisco. 


I  am  not  now,  nor  have  I  ever  been,  connected  with 
the  New  Code  movement,  either  here  or  elsewhere;  in  fact, 
the  subject  has  never  been  a  matter  of  division  on  this 
Coast.  I  am  a  member  of  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, and  as  a  duly  accredited  delegate,  I  represented 
that  body  not  long  since  in  the  British  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, and  my  mission  was  not  dishonored  by  ostentatious 
show  there  or  elsewhere,  during  a  sojourn  of  over  two 
years,  during  which  I  met  the  leading  men  connected  with 
the  medical  institutions  of  Great  Britain,  Sweden,  Russia, 
France,  and  Germany.  I  am  a  Member  of,  and  very 
recently  President  of,  the  State  Medical  Society  of  Cali- 
fornia, from  which  Dr.  Cole  was  sent  as  delegate  to  New 
Orleans. 

But  my  offense  was  quite  outside  of  the  New  Code. 
Four  years  ago  I  reorganized  in  this  city  the  first  medical 


school  ever  established  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  to  in- 
crease its  efficiency  and  permanency,  I  gave  it  a  property 
of  value  greater  than  any  sum  ever  before  given  by 
any  physician  in  this  country  for  the  advancement  of 
medical  science.  This  school,  by  winnowing  out  improper 
material;  by  an  enforced  preliminary  examination,  and  by 
the  thoroughness  of  the  instruction  given  in  it  by  an 
educated  faculty  working  in  harmony,  has  naturally  become 
the  rival  of  another  medical  school  in  this  city,  Dr.  Cole 
being  connected  with  the  last-mentioned  school.  Would 
it  not  be  distrusting  the  reader's  acumen  to  add  further 
words  to  connect  this  paragraph  with  the  subject  here  in 
question  ? 

London,  Sept.   30,   1881. 
My  Dear  Doctor  Lane: 

Your  very  kind  letter  of  the  8th  was  received  but  yes- 
terday. You  cannot  imagine  how  much  pleasure  it  gave 
me  to  learn  directly  from  you  of  the  permanent  improve- 
ment of  my  son-in-law,  as  also  your  expression  of  approba- 
tion of  the  conduct  of  my  dear  child  in  the  case.  A  better 
child  never  lived,  and  in  my  experience,  good  children 
make  good  wives,  and  I  believe  she  is  one  of  the  best. 

It  is  needless,  dear  Doctor,  to  presume  to  attempt  to 
express  my  gratitude  for  your  unremitting  attention.  I 
feel,  from  what  my  child  has  so  often  repeated — as  well  as 
the  patient — that  you  could  not  have  done  more  had  she 
been  of  your  kin ;  and  to  venture  to  say  all  I  would  under 
the  circumstances  would  result  in  an  utter  failure,  hence  I 


lO 

will  only  request  that  you  reverse  our  positions,  and  what 
you  would  feel  I  do  feel!     With  kind  remembrances  to  all 
mutual  friends,  in  which  Mrs.  C.  unites  with  me, 
I  remain,  dear  Doctor, 
Yours, 

R.   Beverly  Cole. 


In  addition  to  this  letter,  two  others  were  received  of 
tenor  so  similar  that  I  will  limit  myself  to  this  quotation 
from  one  of  them,  viz.:  That,  although  he  has  his  pecu- 
liarities, he  is  -  a  man  of  heart,  and,  besides  gratefully 
acknowledging  the  favors  done,  hopes  the  day  may  come 
when  he  can  give  some  proof  of  his  gratitude. 

The  services  here  referred  to  began  in  response  to  a 
transcontinental  telegram  to  the  daughter  from  the  father 
on  his  way  to  the  International  Congress  in  London;  they 
embrace  a  period  of  nearly  three  years,  of  which  nine 
months  consisted  of  nearly  daily  visits  up  many  tiresome 
flights  of  stairs;  for  in  large  cities,  worthy*  penury  is  forced 
to  take  such  refuge  in  its  misfortunes.  Besides  these 
visits,  frequent  consultations  were  given  at  my  office,  in 
which  the  patient  always  received  preferred  attention.  In 
addition  to  the  husband,  the  wife  also  was  often  under 
treatment,  and  the  attention  to  the  latter  reaches  to  within 
a  few  weeks  ago. 

In  thus  striking  my  name  from  the  Committee  of 
Arrangements,  from  the  list  of  Vice-Presidents  of  the  com- 

*  Worthy,  for  heredity,  here  presents  a  notable  variation. 


II 

ing  International  Congress,  and  from  the  Section  of  Surgery, 
he  has  paid  his  debt.  Stones — and  only  stones — have 
been  received  for  the  life  saved. 

One  seeks  in  vain  for  words  to  describe  such  action, 
since  such  action  has  been  so  nearly  unheard  of  as  to  have 
rendered  it  unnecessary  to  create  words  for  its  expression. 

The  honors  conferred  on  me  by  the  original  Committee 
of  Arrangements  were  given  unasked  for.  I  had  already 
sketched  out  some  work  as  a  contribution  on  a  topic  of 
surgery,  in  which  I  have  had  much  experience;  besides,  I 
was  in  negotiation  with  a  man  of  wealth  for  the  establish- 
ment of  an  international  medical  prize  for  researches  upon 
typhoid  fever.  These  facts  are  here  mentioned  to  show 
that  I  had  not  entered  on  this  labor  with  an  idle  hand. 

But  my  retirement  has  the  solace  of  most  excellent 
company;  retirement  with  such  men  as  Drs.  Hays,  Browne, 
and  Billings  can  be  borne.  The  first,  the  worthy  heir  of 
an  illustrious  name  in  American  medicine,  is  the  editor  of 
the  veteran  mouth-piece  of  American  medicine,  viz.:  J  he 
Ai7ierican  yournal  of  Medical  Sciences.  The  second  has 
long  been  an  ornament  to  the  Surgical  Corps  of  the  United 
States  Navy — a  body  of  men  second  to  none  in  refined 
culture  and  scientific  attainments.  As  to  the  third,  he  and 
Dr.  Cole  were  both  at  the  Congress  in  London,  1881;  and 
while  Dr.  Cole,  conspicuous  in  his  livery  of  bombast,  was 
bringing  derision  on  himself*  and  odium   upon    American 


*  As  he  also  did  upon  himself  in  this  State,  where  the  only  effort  in  his  department 
destined  to  live  is  to  be  found  in  the  proceedings  of  the  State  Medical  Society,  in 
which  he  dishonored  the  character  of  every  mother  and  daughter  of  California. 


304775 


12 


medicine  by  his  exaggerations  and  incredible  statements ; 
while  he  was  squandering  the  golden  moments  of  that 
learned  body,  in  the  parade  of  his  vaginal  mechanical  jim- 
cracks,  which  adverse  criticism  has  already  consigned  to 
the  lumber-room  of  oblivion  (where  a  lover  of  antiquities 
might  have  found  them  years  ago) — while  this  man  was 
strutting  and  filling  the  learned  ears  from  all  nations  with 
his  ''sound  and  fury."  there  stood  there  another  man  of 
unpretending  demeanor,  whose  learned  escutcheon  bore  the 
simple  inscription,  Modesty ;  and  whose  able  papers,  be- 
sides partially  atoning  for  his  countryman's  parade  and 
superficiality,  won  for  their  author  an  enduring  place  in  the 
literature  of  the  Congress,  as  well  as  in  the  memories  of 
those  present,  and  caused  him  to  be  recognized  as  the 
tongue,  voice,  fame,  and  honor  of  American  representation 
in  that  august  assembly ;  and  this  man  was — John  Shaw 
Billings. 


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